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"Mommy! Mommy! Wake up! " Eli was screaming in my ear as Emma and Eddie jumped on my bed in a fit of giggles.

"I'm awake." I said with a groan, after the move we were finally settling into our new house, but I was still exhausted, my eyes still closed. I felt them all wiggle off the bed and I laid there for a few more minutes of peace and quiet, something rarely afforded to someone with three young pups. Although they were a handful, I could not imagine my life without them.

The Over the last few days, I had not had much chance to think, let alone sleep. Most nights not getting to bed until very late, not that I was sleeping well right now anyway. The move was still too new, the house did not feel like a home, yet. In all truth, I felt more like a visitor trying not to step on the toes of my host, which was insane I know.

We had arrived back to Tate's pack early in the morning. Tim was driving his truck with a U-Haul trailer pulling behind with everything we were bringing with us. I followed behind him in my SUV, the pups all sound asleep, for the moment, as we pulled up to the pack house.

I sat in my SUV staring at the house, one that I never had the intention of seeing again, the memory of Tate's father and his departing words to me souring my memory of this place. Tate came walking from the front of the pack house and I climbed from my SUV, quietly closing my door to keep from waking the pups, they were just as tired and weary from the trip as Tim and I were, the last hundred miles or so being the worst.

"Hi." I said to Tate a sweet smile coming across his lips.

"Welcome home, Ally." He replied, "Hi Tim." He said turning to me right as Tim came walking over from his truck.

"Tim told me you had housing all set for us?" I knew I was being a bit rude, but I was beyond drained and needed to get unpacked.

"Yeah, I do." His smile fell a bit as he realized that I was not really in a chatting mood. "Let me ride with you over to your place and I will get Markus to take Tim to his." I simply nodded to Tate and grab for the handle of my door as Markus comes walking out of the pack house heading for Tim's truck.

I watch as Tim pulls away, this was truly going to be the first time that we were apart. I know that we had decided to get a divorce, but we had still been living under the same roof, now I was going to be alone and I did not quite know how I felt about that. Taking a deep breath, I pulled my shifting lever in to drive and pulled away from the pack house.

"Once you and the pups are settled, I would like to take you around the pack and show you all the changes." Tate said, filling the silence.

"Sounds nice," I knew he was trying, that he wanted more than anything for us to work, but I did not know if I was ready or if I would ever be.

A throaty growl resonated through my mind, "I want mate! Mate want us! " Lily was obviously not happy with the route of my thoughts.

"Lily, it's not as simple as that." I tried to reason.

"Yes, it is. Be with mate. " She was always the more demanding personality.

"We want to see Lily. I am not ready right now. " She was starting to growl at me again, but I was pulled from our conversation as Tate spoke.

"Turn right at the next mailbox." I slowed down and pulled into the driveway, the house before me took my breath away. Before me stood a house that I had never seen before, looking pristine and new like it had just been finished. A modern cape style home, with a large front porch and wide stairs, with a simple walkway leading to the front steps. Pulling around to the back of the house I admired the gardening and how it contrasted perfectly to the white exterior of the home. Parking the SUV in front of the two-bay garage I noticed a second porch on the back of the house, with a second entry door.

Tate seemed nervous, "This place is gorgeous, Tate. You can not just give me this place. " I said to him, it was too much.

"Ally, this is your house. I built this place for you. " I looked at him, shocked. "There is no giving involved her, it has always been yours."

"We are hungry." Eddie said, throwing himself on me, his knees slamming into my stomach.

"Oomph," I called out and on instinct I brought my arms around him to make sure he did not fall from the bed. "Okay, okay, you win!" I conceded to the demands of my pups, "Mommy is awake." I see all three of them had managed to climb back on the bed, waiting for me.

They cheered at their victory, all three of them jumping from the bed and running for the kitchen. Slowly I made my way from my bed, pulling my robe over my short and tank nightwear.

After breakfast we all got ready for the day, there was still a lot that we needed to do. I made a mental list of all the things, finish organizing, laundry, dishes, daycare. There was so much to do and not a lot of time to get it all completed, the days were short in comparison to the long list of daily tasks and since I had already started my internship at the pack hospital free time what a highly sought- after commodity.

Tim also started his new job; well it wasn't really new. He was extending the current program that he runs at Harvard to a local college here. It would give the packs around here a better access to secondary education, focusing on Wolf Studies. This also gave him the ability to work from either here or Haven Woods.

Everything just seemed to be going too fast, but that had been the story of my life so far. All I really wanted to do was slow it down a bit, gain some semblance of control back. I hated feeling like I was spiraling and right now that is all I felt. That is why today I was just focusing on the pups, we were going to have a day just us, before they went with Tim for the weekend. He called every night to talk to them and comes over a couple of times a week and although it was hard on the pups, they knew daddy wasn't far away, it was amazing to see how adaptable they were to the changes that had been thrust upon them.

The pups and I made our way to the backyard, some place that we thoroughly enjoyed being. It was spacious and offered a safe space for them. They ran to the play structure, climbing into their "hiding place" as they called it. This is usually where the three of them plotted mischief, I only know that because none of them can keep a secret from me, one of them always comes to tell me their "evil" plans. Most of which is them trying to plan on how to tickle someone without getting caught first.

I just sat watching the pups, one of my favorite things to do. The joy that they have from just being in the moment always brings joy me. As I sat there, I was found my mind starting to wander once again getting lost in my own thoughts.

Two days after arriving, Tate knocked on the door. Eli ran toward it, "I get it Mommy." He hollered to me, standing at the back of the foyer I watched as he opened the door.

"Daddy Tate!" He hollered, you could hear the clear joy and excitement in his voice. "Mommy, Daddy Tate is here!"

"I see that baby boy." I responded as he hugged Tate's legs.

"Mommy, not a baby." He scowled at me once he released his arms from Tate's legs. I held my hands up in surrender, I had been corrected, he was not a baby. Tate let out a chuckle, which Emma had heard, and she came running, a squealing excitement coming from her mouth.

Watching their little reunion brought joy to my heart, it was honestly something that I never thought would happen, given the history of mine and Tate's relationship. "I came to see if you wanted to play outside with me?" He questioned the pups. To which of course they agreed and started running for the backyard.

"Get Eddie first." I called after them, I grinned as I heard the direction of their pitter patters changing direction to where Eddie was currently playing in the den. "Hi, Tate." I said turning back to him.

"Hi, how are you?" There was a bit of awkwardness between us. Neither of us really knowing how to be near one another. If the way Lily was acting was any indication of how Knox was acting, I knew Tate was struggling as much as I was. Our wolves were pulling us towards each other, but I knew deep down I was not ready for anything like that yet.

"Doing alright." I said, needing to get away from the close quarters of the entryway I started walking towards the kitchen before he was able to lean in for the hug and kiss on the cheek, I knew he was aiming for. "If you want to head outside with the pups, I will start lunch. Then we can eat outside? " I am not sure why the last part came out as a question, but it did.

"Sounds good to me." Although his tone said it sounded good, I could tell by the look on his face I had not given him the welcoming he had wanted.

I watched Tate playing outside with the pups as I made a tossed salad and egg salad sandwiches for lunch. Placing the sandwiches on a platter I carried them and the salad out to the patio table, the returning inside to get everything else.

Setting everything on the table and organizing it, I called to everyone, "Lunch is ready!"

"No Mommy, play more." Emmerson said, shaking her head. I knew the pups were quite ready, so I conceded to the request.

"Fine, you can play more, come see me when you are hungry." It was still early for them to have lunch, so letting them play more was not a big deal. Tate crouched down and said something to the pups that I could not quite hear, but they all nodded their heads and then he came strolling over to where I was.

As I watched him move across the yard, I was momentarily drooling. Still after everything the aura he emitted, with the fierce and kind look of his emerald green eyes, coupled with his killer muscles and sharp jaw line still gave me tingles. Still after all this time and everything that had separated us, I still wanted him. "You know if you do not shut your mouth you are liable to catch flies." He smirked at me as he took a seat next to me.

"That is the corniest line ever. You know all men that think they are all that say the same thing. It is way overplayed. " I snored.

"Sassy as ever I see. No wonder where our pups get it from. " Amusement played in Tate's eyes as our gazes stayed locked on one another. A shriek of joy sounded from the kids, breaking away from Tate's eyes I looked over to them. They were all taking turns on the slide now, bringing a content smile to my face.

"They are pretty amazing, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are," Tate agreed with me. We sat silently for a few minutes before Tate spoke again, "Ally, I do not know how to say this, but I need to."

I had a feeling that this was coming, ever since Georgia I knew, so I stopped him. Reaching for his hand I said, "I know what you are going to say," I gave his hand a quick squeeze, the sparks dancing across my skin at the contact. I let go of his hand, "I need time, Tate. I need to figure out who I am without being tied to someone. " I kept my eyes focused on the pups, worried that if I were to look at him, I might cry, because as much as I needed this space, I did not want it. I wanted to be with him, but there was something that was stopping me. I am not sure why I felt guilty for this, I knew I should not, but I did. Probably because I knew it was going to hurt him and honestly it was hurting me too.

"Everything in my life, since high school, has moved too fast. Pups, school, Tim, this. " I said, pointed between the two of us and the house. "I need to breathe and figure out some things on my own. I know that this is not what you want to hear, but this is what I need Tate. " Finally feeling like I was able to steal my face and emotions, I looked back to him; he did not need to say anything. I could feel every emotion that was flowing between us. Plus, Lily was scolding me.

"You hurt him. Hold him. "

"Lily, stop! You may know what you want and be ready, but I am not! "

She growled at me; I could just imagine her haunches were raised to me. "We need him."

"No! We want him. There is a difference. " After that Lily shut me off, she would not respond to me, but honestly, I was thankful for the quiet so I could be in my own thoughts.

"Lily is mad at you, isn't she?" I just nodded my head, "Knox is not happy with me either."

Falling back into a silence we watched the pups play some more, "Ally," I turned my head looking at Tate again, "I just want you to know I am not going anywhere. Take whatever time you need, do whatever it is that you have to do. Just know that I will be waiting here, no matter what you decide. I love you; I always have and always will. "

Eddie came running over to me, climbing up next to me, "Mommy, go Daddy." He demanded.

"You miss Daddy, huh?" Eddie just looked at me, "Okay, let's go see Daddy." Eddie started to smile and clap. "Emma, ​​Eli." I called out. "Time to go to Daddy's house."

I was sitting at my desk, working on the details of the new program I was setting up when I heard the commotion at the front door. There was no knock, just the door slamming open and little wolves running into the room.

"DADDY!" They all yelled together as they ran to me. Moving away from my desk, I crouched down letting them pile on top of me as I wrapped my arms around them.

"My pups, I have missed you." I said with a smile, giving them, all kisses on their foreheads.

"Yuck, no kisses." Edison said, wiping his forehead. He was now at the age where he thought they were gross, but still I gave him kisses anyway.

They all climbed off of me and I stood up, seeing Allison standing there. This is the first time that she had actually been back to this house since we had moved here, so she had yet to see any of the renovations that were made to it. I watched her looking around, there was a sadness on her face.

"Why do not you go look around?" I said, giving her permission that I really did not think she needed. No matter what, my home would be some where Allison was always welcome. "They added a third bedroom on to the house extended the living room a bit."

"I can see. It's a lot bigger than when I was growing up. " She made her way down the hallway to the bedrooms, looking into the one on the left she commented, "This was my room." Walking in she sat on the bed, the walls were now a soft lavender color, "The paint is new."

"This is Emma's room." I said, but of course she already knew that by the decorations that adorned the shelves and dresser. Getting up Allison walked toward the second bedroom, where there were two twin beds.

"This was my parent's room. I spent a lot of time here. " A sad smile was on Allison's face. "It's nice to see that they brought this place back to life. It's even better that my pups get to live here too. Hopefully you will all be happy living here. Even though things were hard, this is where I was raised, it made me who I am. " Walking back out to kitchen Allison sat at the table, I poured two glasses of sweet tea, placing one in front of Allison before sitting across from her.

There was a silence that fell between us and for the first time it was awkward. Everything felt out of place, like we did not know how to talk to each other anymore. After everything we had been through, not knowing how to be around each other was difficult at best.

"So, how have you been doing Tim? We haven't really had a chance to talk about things since Haven Woods. " I could tell that she felt guilty, but the truth was I was just as guilty in this for as much as she has been avoiding the elephant in the room, I had been too.

"I will not lie Allison, this is hard." I looked at her, "In my core I know that this is the right path and right choice, but not being with you and the pups is hard. I want nothing more than to be with you all, all the time. " I was not being fair, but in order for both of us to find our way apart and parent together, we could not hide from each other. "There have been so many times that I almost called you or just stopped by."

She nodded her head in understanding, "I know, Tim. It is the same for me. It is hard to find the new normal. " She gave me one of her reassuring smiles, the one that always said things would work out. "But I think you are right. Coming here was the right thing, just like us divorcing is. Some day you will find the right person to spend the rest of your life with Tim, I can just feel it in the core of my being. "

There was a somber feeling setting in between us, I was hoping that someday we would figure out this new dynamic between us, where we could be friends like we were before we were married. "Yeah about that..." I trailed off, "There is someone from college that I met, I haven't asked her out or anything, but I think I want to."

"Really?" Allison's entire demeanor changed, now she was looking at me curiously. "Tell me more." It was not a question, more like a demand.

"She is human, so there are no mate issues." We both chuckled a bit. "I know it's fast, but you know how when something feels right?" Allison nodded her head and smiled. "We will see, I think I want to settle in a bit more first."

"Do what you need to do Tim, is not that what you have been telling me? Do what will make you happy. You more than anyone deserves it. Does she know about wolves? " I could hear a bit of the tightness in Allison's voice, I knew that telling her this would be hard on her, but I did not want to lie to her or have her blindsided down the road. That had happened to her too many times to count.

"Well to your first question, yes, I have been telling you that, so maybe I should take my own advice. To your second question, yes. She does know, her father was actually a wolf from this pack, but her mother was human. She was born human but grew up around here. "

"Really? What's her name? "

"Ah, Emily Howard. Do you know her? "

"I do, she was actually a year ahead of me in school. We did not run in the same circles, but I know who she is. She was always really nice. "

"So, now that we've talked about me, what about Tate?"

"You know you do not have to ask about that. I can tell that it is the last thing that you really want to know about. " There was a glint of surprise in Allison's eyes that I even asked.

"Nemo," she smiled as I used her nickname, "even if we are not together as a couple, I am always going to be your friend. I will always be here for you. "